1. Applications of ICTs In
Acquisition of 21st Century Skills
DR. ARSHAD BASHIR
Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership,
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology,
Islamabad

2. Agenda of my talk
Introduction of my doctoral work and its connection with ICTs
What are 21st century skills?
Applications of ICTs in acquisition of 21st century skills
COMSATS Virtual Campus-A practical example of ICTs Applications in developing 21st century skills among VCOMSATS students

3. My Doctoral work
Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Appalachian State University, North Carolina, USA
Dissertation title: “Acquisition of 21st century skills through Educational Exchange Program”
Online educational exchange program between high schools in the US and Pakistan
The US Department of State provides a funding of about one million dollars to transform online collaboration into face-to-face interaction

4. Online Exchange Program
US-Pakistan Educational and Cultural Exchange Program
My Fulbright exchange experience and its impact
ASU-Global Outreach Speaker
Online collaboration among educators and students in HITEC, Pakistan and Boone, NC
Exchange of cultural and educational ideas
Curriculum-based projects
Blogging, Digital stories, photo and video sharing

5. Outcomes of My Doctoral research
Acquisition of 21st century skills such as global awareness, collaboration, technology

6. Impact on Institutions & participants
HITEC (Heavy Industries Taxila Education City) and Watauga County Schools, USA completed 30 academic projects in last three years using online platform of NING and Moodle.
HITEC has invested more than 10 million PKR for up-gradation of technology infrastructure at their facility.
Educators and students at HITEC integrated technology in teaching-learning process resulted in improvement in their academic and professional profiles.
By using informal medium such as facebook and other communication tools, educators and students in the US and Pakistan established deep personal and professional relations.

7. Vcomsats-a A practical example of ICTs Applications

8. VIRTUAL CAMPUS
WHAT<>WHY

9. International Trends
In 1998, 83% of governors identified “allowing students to obtain education anytime and anyplace via technology” as a critical characteristic of universities in the twenty-first century (de Alva, 2000 pp. 34, 38).
Online students are becoming an entirely new subpopulation of higher- education learners. They are “generally older, have completed more college credit hours and more degree programs, and have a higher all- college GPA than their traditional counterparts” (Diaz, 2002, pp. 1-2).
Approximately “42 percent of all students at both private and public institutions are age 25 or older” (Aslanian, 2001, p. 4). Not only are they numerous, adult learners are the fastest-growing population in higher education.
From slide

10. International Trends
More women than men now enroll in college (57% of students are women), a trend supported by the fact that more women are entering the workforce (“Lifelong,” 2002).
Despite some resistance, the results of a four-year study by McGraw-Hill showed a strong increase in overall faculty support for technology in education, with only 22% viewing it as important in 1999 and 57% in Instructors feel that Web-based technology is helping them achieve their teaching objectives (McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2003).
Rubin (2003) has noted that “traditional universities are becoming more like distance learning universities and not the opposite” (p. 59).
From slide

11. University intake vs. HSC Passed students

13. Learning Management System
The software system for the e-learning program.
VCOMSATS LMS provides the student to visit the course website
FAQs, glossary, web links, related downloads, scheme of study and course contents. Quizzes, submit assignments and participate in discussion boards with tutor or students from LMS.

14. What VCOMSATS is Contributing ?
Students learn basic and advance computing and communication skills
Students learn to collaborate
Students learn to work online such as exams and quizzes
Students learn to access resources such as digital libraries
Students learn to use video conferencing and online interaction